"Alright then, big Shizu."
"Hikigaya!", Hiratsuka Shizuka lost it, suddenly grabbing his hand and pulling him toward her, flipping him and pinning him down.
She was putting her pride as a teacher on the line, to make Hachiman understand his place as a student, and stop giving his teachers headaches.
"Big Shizu, when Teacher Kirisu left, she only closed the door. If someone comes looking for you and opens it, they'll see you physically disciplining a student. You don't want to be found out as an unfit teacher, right?", As he saw Hiratsuka Shizuka really trying to make him feel pain through grappling, Hachiman simply lay flat on the sofa and let her do as she pleased.
However, as he felt his arm being yanked tightly between her chest, and her armbar nearly complete, with her long legs obscuring his vision, he kindly reminded her.
"You've really improved. You even know how to threaten me now!", Hiratsuka Shizuka's body froze. She could only release his hand, get off the sofa, and glare at him viciously.
"Isn't it you who's been reading too many hot-blooded manga lately? Thinking of using grapples on your student, that's seriously unworthy of a teacher," Hachiman climbed back onto the sofa with a grin, sitting up leisurely as he looked at her.
He knew Shizuka also liked manga, but the kind she read were always those typical shounen action types. Just like her iron-fist teacher persona, settling disputes through battle.
"Only because you keep teasing and provoking me!", Looking at Hachiman, who acted like her armbar was just a massage and seemed to be savoring the sensation, Hiratsuka Shizuka clenched her teeth.
'Did Iris give him some sort of treasure? How could he completely ignore my grapples?'
'This guy... I feel like Hachiman has stressed me into aging a few more years.'
'Looks like this guy is the biggest problem student in the entire Service Club.'
"Alright, Teacher Hiratsuka, stop playing around. Let's talk business," Hachiman waved his hand, signaling her to get to the point.
Yesterday, he'd ditched class after their talk, and who knew if Mafuyu Kirisu might still be waiting in the classroom. If he stayed too long here in the student guidance room and she found out he hadn't returned to class, she might actually come looking for him.
If the overly serious Mafuyu Kirisu found out what just happened, little Shizu might really get reported and lose her teaching credentials.
Looking at the serious face of Hachiman, who had just been making her angry and taking advantage of her, Hiratsuka Shizuka took several deep breaths to calm her urge to punch him, then slowly said, "Your childhood friend is the student council president, so you should've heard about the transfer student situation at school, right?"
"You mean the dissolution of the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School and the students being redistributed? Yeah, I heard about it. When I skipped class yesterday, something happened apparently. The disciplinary committee had to call an emergency meeting and drafted people to cover duties, Kaede and the others were pulled in to substitute."
Hachiman nodded. Yesterday, outside the girls' swim club pool, he'd run into Kotegawa Yui and Usui Makoto. Luckily he got along well with Makoto, if he'd only run into Yui, she might've misunderstood and thought he was peeking or something.
"So, little Shizu, are you sending me another bullied problematic girl?", Hearing this, Hachiman suspiciously looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Though the problematic girls she sent over were never bad, at worst, they were very attractive.
But he was really busy now and was even considering delegating authority to Yukinoshita to handle club requests.
But obviously, Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't take his place. Most of the Service Club's requests were practically tied to him, only he could handle them.
"What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean 'sending again'? When did I ever send anyone to you? Those were just commissions. And what's this about problematic girls,nthey're just students who've run into some difficulties, alright?", Hiratsuka Shizuka gave him a smack and complained about his way of thinking.
Even though she often privately griped about how many problematic girls Sobu High had, she couldn't let Hachiman think she was shirking responsibility and dumping them on him.
Now she thought maybe it wasn't her being incompetent, but that Hachiman, as the biggest problem student, had a natural advantage in dealing with problematic girls.
Just like how organized crime handles delinquents with even worse delinquents, Hikigaya's Service Club handled problem students with a problem student.
"Yeah, yeah. So what is it exactly, little Shizu? Just say it. Whether I can do it or not depends on your sincerity," Hachiman nodded repeatedly, clearly brushing her off.
Handling problem students wasn't the issue, Hiratsuka Shizuka just couldn't keep squeezing him dry.
For regular requests, Yukinoshita could handle them. But most students at Sobu High clearly had some mental quirks. They needed to be clubbed straight.
"I actually heard about the dissolution of the Advanced Nurturing High School a while ago. Originally, Sobu High wasn't supposed to get this many students, but due to some politician's maneuvering..."
"Sobu High ended up taking in a lot of underperforming students. To fully absorb them, we even had to form a new class and hire a new teacher."
Hiratsuka Shizuka took a deep breath, no longer arguing with Hachiman, and just explained.
The Advanced Nurturing High was a national school, famous for its innovative education system and 100% employment rate.
But it was recently exposed for wasting large amounts of tax money in its training programs. That so-called 100% employment rate came from eliminating a vast number of students and only keeping the winners. Public opinion was harsh, and the experiment was urgently terminated.
There were plenty of other tax-wasting cases, it just happened this one got exposed.
Still, Advanced Nurturing High had misled students into enrolling. To make up for it, public schools were required to absorb some of them.
As Chiba's highest-ranked public high school, Sobu High had to accept only the best.
However, just like in past instances, the process was influenced by outside forces again. Originally, Sobu was to receive a handful of excellent Class A students, but instead, a large number of Class D underachievers were sent.
Not all were failing students, but few were academically strong. Just… mostly girls.
"Ichinose has that much pull over Sobu High? He can even make them take in underachievers?"
Hachiman was surprised, maybe this politician was more formidable than he thought.
Though Sobu High did have plenty of underachievers, like Gotou Hitori(Bocchi-chan), Hayase Saki and others weren't doing great either, but they were all special talent admissions. As for gyarus like Yuina getting in through pure luck, that was still rare.
"Politicians aren't just simple officials, they have companies and connections," Hiratsuka Shizuka rolled her eyes at him.
"Ichinose promised that if Sobu High accepted and trained these students past the pass line, he'll offer even more excellent job positions. Even existing students could get internships through school recommendations."
"...That's a thing?", Hachiman was stunned, he didn't expect Ichinose to use incentives instead of pressure.
You really can't underestimate the tricks of politicians.
This move let underachievers who would've been abandoned find a place in Sobu, the top school. On top of that, Sobu got more elite job openings, Ichinose's reputation must be stellar.
If he didn't know that Ichinose Honami originally wasn't supposed to be at Sobu but at Advanced Nurturing High, he might not have realized that the politician sent her to get close to him and curry favor with the elven princess.
If Ichinose Ayano and Honami succeeded in winning him over and got Iris's support, Ichinose might really pull off something big.
'Tsk...', Hachiman thought Ichinose was actually kind of impressive.
Not only did he send over Ayano, but also Honami, and now a bunch of other students too. He almost felt guilty about trying to completely crush him. Maybe he should let him keep dancing around, who knows, maybe he'll send more goodies his way.
"Politicians are like that. Every move they make in public carries hidden motives. It's never just about doing good deeds," Hiratsuka Shizuka had pretty much figured out Ichinose's true intent, after all, she'd handled the paperwork for sending Ichinose Ayano to the Service Club.
Seeing the connection between Honami and Ayano, and how Honami was placed in Hachiman's class, she knew exactly what Ichinose's little scheme was.
She had to admit, Ichinose had good judgment. Considering Hachiman's sticky relationship with Iris, getting close to him might be even more effective than targeting her directly.
What she didn't know was that Ichinose had initially underestimated Hachiman and overestimated Iris's independence. Now it was hard to fix that mistake.
"Hmm... so what do I need to do? I still don't really get it," Hachiman looked puzzled at Hiratsuka Shizuka. He still hadn't figured out what was being asked of him.
He knew Honami had transferred over, and this batch likely included plenty of problematic students with dark pasts and messy personalities, but Shizuka probably didn't know that. She just thought their grades were bad.
"Simply put, your guess earlier was right. There are indeed quite a few problem students in this batch."
"I'm not asking you to take on what should be my responsibility, but you do have a lot of experience handling problem students effectively. If they come to the Service Club in the future, I hope you'll take care of them as much as you can. And if you need anything, just tell me directly."
Thinking of the files for these students already gave Hiratsuka Shizuka a headache, and she sighed helplessly.
Normally, a teacher wouldn't be allowed access to students' personal files, especially internal records detailing psychological assessments and past issues.
But since they were accepting the transfers, they needed a full evaluation of the students' traits. As the student guidance counselor, she had to review them.
And what she saw shocked her.
Friendless, emotionally distant students; plain, weak-willed ones who didn't groom themselves; gentle on the outside but harboring intense stress inside; those who had been bullied, there was even a student with kleptomania.
Reading through so many profiles similar to existing Service Club members made Hiratsuka's scalp tingle.
Just one problem student in the Service Club was already giving her enough grief, and now there were more?
After reading everything, she understood why Advanced Nurturing High got shut down. Normally, when student issues arise, schools are supposed to address them early.
But this batch of students hadn't even started classes and already came with this much baggage. Clearly, the school had deliberately recruited mentally unstable students to conduct social experiments.
Such behavior was outrageous.
If it were just typical antisocial or socially anxious behavior, she could work with them over time without involving Hachiman. But some were suffering from overwhelming stress or had experienced bullying, these couldn't wait. She had to cast aside her pride and ask Hachiman for help.
"The Service Club's job is to help students in trouble. If they come to us, even if you hadn't said anything, I would've helped them," Hachiman understood the situation and wasn't too worried. He knew their problems were manageable. But seeing how concerned Hiratsuka was, he gave little Shizu a smile.
"But... any request can be made? Then from now on, if I call you little Shizu, you can't object."
"Hikigaya, you bastard... Fine! Call me that in private as much as you want! But you'll bear the consequences. Don't blame me for bullying you then!", Hiratsuka Shizuka glared at Hachiman, who had a hateful smile on his face, and clenched her teeth as she issued her threat.
Although Hachiman agreeing without hesitation was a good thing, proving that she hadn't misjudged him, he was indeed a responsible student, someone worth entrusting. Still, thinking of teasing her at a time like this, it seemed she really needed to find a good opportunity to give Hachiman a proper lesson. He clearly didn't take her, his teacher, seriously.
However, she had just tried a ground submission technique on Hachiman, and for the time being couldn't think of any other good way to deal with this guy who didn't respond to force or persuasion.
Submission techniques could still be controlled in terms of force and wouldn't cause physical problems. She couldn't really lay hands on Hachiman, or she would truly be unfit to be a teacher.
———
"Little Shizu...", After finishing his detailed talk with Hiratsuka Shizuka, Hachiman left the student guidance office feeling satisfied. He hadn't expected that Hiratsuka Shizuka was merely asking him to pay more attention to and take better care of the new transfer students from Advanced Nurturing High School, not to help with any specific issue.
But thinking it through, it made sense. Although Hiratsuka Shizuka looked unreliable, she actually cared a lot about her students.
The demi-human transfer students were increasingly outrageous. Even if Hiratsuka Shizuka wanted to, she couldn't interfere. But as for the transfer students from Advanced Nurturing High School, if she could lend a hand, she would certainly do her best.
Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyou, Sakura Airi, Karuizawa Kei, Sakayanagi Arisu, Kamuro Masumi, Ichinose Honami...
Just based on the ones whose names he remembered clearly, there were already quite a few problem students, not to mention Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had detailed information on them. She definitely knew their situations.
Putting aside Ichinose Honami, who was already by Gabriel's side, the remaining students had some overlapping traits with people he knew.
For example, Horikita Suzune and Yukinoshita Yukino were both long straight-haired girls who didn't understand people's hearts.
For example, Sakura Airi and Gotou Hitori were both timid and weak, socially anxious pink-haired dumplings who didn't know how to dress up.
Mm... although they were definitely not identical, they were all problem girls anyway. Putting them together might be pretty fun.
Hachiman had already imagined the scene where Horikita Suzune and Yukinoshita Yukino, two problematic girls, locked eyes and disliked each other.
Sakura Airi and Gotou Hitori could both be treated as little pets. Once you soothed them, they would let down their guard and lie on the floor showing their bellies.
The school bell had already rung, but since Iris hadn't come looking for him, he had no thought of skipping class.
However, on his way back to Class 1-F, Hachiman suddenly heard a voice calling out behind him.
"President, President..."
Looking back, Hachiman saw three familiar figures.
Blue, yellow, pink, three mermaid songstresses stood there daintily, staring at him.
"Um... could the president spare some time to assist us now? We haven't had contact for over ten hours..."
Among the three mermaids, the most petite and adorable Ellio timidly looked at Hachiman, her fair little hand clutching the hem of her clothes, quietly asking.
"Is it our turn now, President~?"
"We've been waiting since last night until now, we're almost at our limit~"
The pink-haired, cute Elusi and the blonde, lively Ayla were bolder. They came up to Hachiman from both sides, hugging his arms left and right, and each kissed his cheek, giggling as they whispered in his ear.
Unlike the introverted and quiet Ellio, the two of them were originally more lively and daring. It was just that during their first encounter with Hachiman, Dragon Clan Leader Urusla and Elf Princess Iris had been watching from the side. Being weaker in strength, no matter how bold they were, they didn't dare cross any line with the Hachiman that everyone adored.
However, now that no one was watching, and after getting a read on Hachiman's personality yesterday, they knew he actually liked them quite a bit. So they boldly hugged Hachiman directly and acted spoiled.
"If you need me, just call me. Now you're openly hugging me in the hallway, aren't you afraid of being seen?"
Hachiman looked at Elusi and Ayla, who were ignoring their idol identities and clinging tightly to him as if trying to squeeze their soft bodies into his. He was a bit speechless.
Although being treated like this by nationally famous idols made him feel very comfortable, there were already plenty of their fans in Soubu High. If photos of them being affectionate with him were uploaded online, their idol careers might suffer a big blow.
Even if they weren't ordinary idols, but mermaid songstresses who sold their moving voices, they had always been marketed as a beautiful girl idol group. Sudden scandals would definitely stir up controversy.
As for him, he didn't care. Mermaid songstresses singing at home for him instead of going on tour was fine too. But they needed his support precisely so they could continue their idol activities and concerts. Acting so recklessly wouldn't do.
"Don't worry. Before we came, Iris already cast invisibility magic on us. As long as we don't make too much noise, even if you assist us here, President, it's fine~"
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